


From one breath to the next.

by SilverInStars



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - After College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, Gay Keith (Voltron), Hospital fic(but just fluffiness), Hurt character(nothing explicit), Keith is stressed out, Keith needs a caretaker, Lance being overprotective, Lance is a fusser, Lance loves Keith's mullet and we know it, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Winter fic, mentions of an accident
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-03-01 14:27:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13296804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverInStars/pseuds/SilverInStars
Summary: "I'm never going to win any arguments anymore, am I?" Lance asked."Did you win any before?" Keith raised a brow.----Lance was pining.





	From one breath to the next.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first Voltron fic. I've just fallen in love with these two recently and really wanted to write something for them. Leave me a comment and I might be motivated to write more ^^ 
> 
> Also I wrote this at like 3:00 AM, so please forgive in typos or error >.<.

His mouth automatically tugged down into a frown when he saw Keith, "What's wrong?" He asked, stepping forward and making to reach out for the other boy. The biting breeze stung the bare skin of his cheeks, but he paid it no mind, eyes focused on Keith in obvious worry.

Keith just shook his head tersely and brushed passed him, "Can we not make a big deal out of this? I'm fine." He snapped, pulling the lapels of his coat tighter around his frame in a self-conscious gesture. Lance's fingers brushed across Keith's waist as he slipped behind to get into Lance's pickup parked across Keith's little apartment building.

It was Sunday, and the early morning brought few people out on the streets, most preferring to sleep in on the one day of freedom from the regular capitalist agenda. Lance took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, it wouldn't do to overreact unnecessarily. Keith didn't do well with drama when he got like that. The car's windshield was already covered in a thin sheen of frost and he jogged to the driver's side quick, sliding into the warmth of his car, shutting the door after himself in the same smooth motion.

Pidge often said Lance could be frivolous in the most subtle ways. Or maybe, these little things like remembering to apply hand-cream, or not crawling into his car awkwardly, were just engrained into him. Cultural imprints crept up on a person, he realized. They both remained silent as he pushed the key into the ignition. Keith was looking out the window with his lips pursed, and Lance had to swallow back the thought of how beautiful he was. In all the little ways.

Lance turned the heating back on first, letting the car warm them both up from the minute spent in the cold. The bare tips of his fingers were freezing from exposure, and he tucked them under his arms, trying to gain some feeling. He sensed Keith fidgeting beside him for a moment, before the other boy caved, "You have to rub the cold out, and I told you to use ones that have a detachable cover, didn't I? What happened to the ones I gave you for Christmas?" Keith nagged, pulling Lance's arms towards him and encasing the taller boy's fingers between his own. Lance watched as he did this, more than a little helpless to the little skip his heart gave when the soft wool of Keith's gloves rubbed against his skin.

"Um, they're at home. I didn't take them out of the packaging yet." Lance told him honestly. Keith threw him an exasperated look, bringing Lance's palms to his lips to huff on them, "Seriously Lance? I didn't give you those so you'd toss them in the back of the drawer like you do with those obligatory socks you get from people at work."

"I wouldn't do that!" Lance protested. And really, he wouldn't. He just might have been a little(a lot) drunk during the Christmas party Coran had hosted, and when Keith had given him his present with a shy quirk to his smile and told him to be more careful with the harsh winter they were having, well, no one could fault him for having an internal meltdown.

Keith snorted at his response, "You totally would. You're lucky I'm your best friend, so I love you anyway." He teased.

_I love you too._

Best friends, Lance reminded himself firmly, ignoring the warmth under his collar that had nothing to do with the car's heating system. He looked at Keith again, observant, taking in the flush high on his cheekbones, the barely visible tremble to his lower lip and they way his hands clenched and unclenched around Lance's.

"We don't have to go if you can't." Lance told him, "I can call and make some excuse. Allura will probably understand-"

"I'm fine." Keith interrupted him again, this time his response was gentler, but not less firm.

His stubborn boy.

"Shiro and Allura are finally getting married, and after everything they've been through- with the adoption, nothing short of an apocalypse is gonna stop me from making it to this wedding, alright." Keith said, finally looking up from their joined palms to look Lance in the eye.

The fond smile on Lance's lips was probably more than a little sappy and not an expression he would've been caught dead having if Pidge was around, but his friend wasn't here. It was just him, and Keith. So he allowed it.

"Hey, it's 'Shiro and Allura's' wedding, for all we know we could be driving towards said apocalypse," Lance joked, poking Keith in the cheek with his index finger and feeling satisfied at the indent under his finger when he laughed.

Lance reluctantly detangled his hands from between Keith's, settling them on the wheel. "We should leave now if we want to get there on time." He said, "Make sure you've buckled up properly, yeah."

"Worry wart," Keith shook his head at Lance, tugging at his belt to show Lance it was okay. His words were soft, though, eyes flashing with an unreadable expression and Lance found himself staring back for a second, lost.

The memories were never easy. Lance had been in a car accident a year ago, a terrible one that left it's mark on his body. But sitting with Keith like this, with the snow storming a riot on the outside blocking them from the rest of the world, it was the easiest thing in the world.

"We should leave," Keith prompted, amusement in his tone and Lance flushed at being caught gawking at him. He prayed his ears weren't red (maybe he could blame it on the remnant cold) and he carefully drove them out of the local street and towards the highway.

Once they were on the relatively empty road that would take them to the reception, Lance's concentration was back on Keith again. He couldn't help the tight knot of worry in his chest. Keith said he was fine, but Lance knew better than to trust it. He knew Keith was capable of taking care of himself, had taken care of the both of them from the moment they met, but he couldn't help the tension that bunched his shoulders at the little furrow to Keith's brow and the sharp intakes of breath when he thought Lance wasn't paying attention.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked once again, considering just turning the car around. Shiro fussed over Keith more than Lance did, Lance thought, even if Shiro denied it with a sly smile, saying it wasn't possible for anyone to fuss over a person more than Lance's bumbling ways around it. Lance desisted, a little. No one listened to him when he did, Hunk doing a comical rendition of Lance with what they called his "whipped by Keith" look somewhere in the back.

"I'm fine." Keith repeated, rolling her eyes, "Eyes on the road." He scolded.

Lance opened his mouth to argue his case. Keith was turning paler by the second, and his past experience in a car was not helping his own building anxiety. A whimper of pain from Keith's direction made his head snap towards the other boy, eyes widening in panic as he saw him bent over his lap, clutching at his stomach.

"Keith! What's wrong?!"

Keith just groaned again, before slumping over the seat, limp.

\-----------  
When Keith came to, he was in a hospital bed. There was a familiar beeping in his vicinity and a disoriented thought had him mapping the beat to a radiohead song. His eyes fluttered open, wincing at the minimal lights in the room. He blinked in confusion, and then it started coming back to his, the wedding, the car...Lance!

He sat up straight, only then realising he had jostled a weight off his legs in his abrupt motion. Lance looked up at him with sleep mussed hair and bleary eyes. They sparked to attention when he realised Keith was awake.

"Keith! How are you feeling?" He asked, standing up to hover over Keith, hands shifting to adjust the sheets around him.

"Apart from being a little confused, I think I'm okay. What about you?" He ducked his head to meet his eyes trying to read the look in them, "Lance, are you okay? I'm sorry, that must have startled you."

Lance paused his actions of fluffing up Keith's pillows. He huffed a little, before his usual easy going smile spread across his mouth, "I'm fine, think about yourself for now, yeah. You just collapsed from all the stress. No more conspiracy theory documentaries for you, kiddo" he mocked, flicking Keith across the nose in a practiced motion.

"Who're you calling kiddo, asshole?" Keith pouted, relaxing at Lance's smile. There was a twinge he pushed down immediately, cause that was stupid, and not to mention selfish. Keith knew Lance cared about him more than anything, and he was happy that this hadn't really scared Lance. Keith was not disappointed at how relaxed Lance was about the whole thing.

Not even a tiny bit.

"Do you feel up to a couple of visitors?" Lance asked, and Keith threw him a confused look. "Visitors?" Keith asked, "how long have I been out of it?"

"About two hours now," Lance told him, handing Keith the cup of water he'd poured from a jug on the bedside table. "The nurse came by earlier and said you were just sleeping off your exhaustion."

"Oh, who's here then? Everyone we know's got to be at the reception." He asked.

Lance shook his head at Keith, "I'll never understand if you're being selfless, or you're that much of an idiot. My final vote is on a combination of both."

"That's a rude thing to say to someone on a hospital bed," Keith complained, his foot darting towards Lance's shins which the other boy neatly dodged.

The graceful dumbass. It was unfair, really.

Keith would have attempted again, but Lance was already at the door, murmuring to someone on the other side. After he was done talking, he stepped aside and someone rushed in with a force that almost knocked him off his feet.

As Lance regained his balance, Keith tried to calm the blithering mess that was Pidge, crouched at his bedside. There was naked worry on every inch of his friend's face and Keith tried to look as placating as possible in hopes of calming them.

"I'll go find the doctor and talk to him about getting you discharged." Lance said, sticking his thumb towards the door. Keith nodded at him, distracted by Pidge going a mile a minute about how they were going to tuck Keith into bed and then sit on him to make sure he stayed there.

A few minutes after Lance disappeared, things quieted down a bit. Pidge sighed heavily, "You've got to take better care of yourself Keith. I think I lost half my life today."

"You mean one of your nine?" Keith asked in amusement.

"Oh ha ha, you're funny."

Pidge paused, "Lance...is he okay now?"

Keith automatically worried, "What do you mean? You just saw him. He was fine? Is there something wrong?"

Pidge looked a little uncomfortable now, like maybe, they had said something they shouldn't have. "It's just that...he was really worried."

"Yeah? And you were ready to climb into my bed and tie me down a second ago." Keith nudged Pidge's knee, not seeing the point. Lance had been better than Keith'd expected him to be.

"No, I'm serious." Pidge said, frowning. "I've never seen him like that. He's usually so easygoing and calm- but earlier, when we came in after he called, it-it was bad."

Keith was silent as he digested the information he'd been given. Pidge soon changed the topic, probably trying to avoid sending Keith into another stress induced episode, but their words swam around Keith's head and his eyes followed Lance around the room when he came back.

In the three years he'd known Lance, he'd grown to become Keith's closest friend in more ways then one. They'd started off a little rocky, the harsh edges of their personalities clashing, all dry humour and wicked mockery. But time had smoothened out those edges, and now Keith couldn't imagine a better fit into that special niche in his life if he tried.

Lance could be so painfully awkward at times, it was well hidden behind a cocky overconfident flair, but those little glimpses made Keith love him just that much more.

Keith hadn't even been surprised when he realised he was in love with Lance. From one breath to the next, it was the eventual ending. Lance was beautiful, and Keith loved him for his capacity to always make Keith feel warm and loved.

"Shiro and Allura are grabbing us lunch. I'll go see where they're at." Pidge said, giving a pointed look towards Lance's turned back.

Keith clutched at the sheets bunched around his waist as Pidge left the room. A tension that hadn't been there filling it in their absence. Now that Keith knew what to look for, it was easy to catch the tremble along Lance's broad shoulders, or the slouch to his posture, so unlike his usual straight lines.

"Lance." Keith called out to him, the distance between his bed and where Lance was standing turned away from Keith at the window suddenly too much to bear.

Lance flinched at his tone, it was a small thing, just a little jerk of his waist. But Keith was looking at him. "I should probably go to the pharmacy and get you this medication, the doctor said you've got to take it before meals."

"Lance" Keith repeated, watching him, the way his fingers clenched desperately around the ledge.

"Are those enough pillows? I'm not really the best person to take care of someone. You should know that by now, remember the cactus? Maybe I should get Pidge-"

"Lance, look at me."

"Yeah, Pidge's not too good at this either. Maybe Hunk? He's good at the whole" He waves a hand around, eyes still avoiding Keith's, "He's good at it, right?" he asked, weakly.

"Lance," Keith said, voice soft, "I don't need anyone else. Please, just look at me. I need you to-" his voice caught, "I need to know you're okay."

"I'm fine." Lance said, rolling his eyes.

Keith was not fooled however, "Please" he repeated.

And maybe it was Keith tone, choked with emotion, that finally caught Lance's attention. He looked at Keith, eyes blown wide, and Keith extended his arms out to Lance in a silent gesture. It took Lance two long strides to reach Keith's side, in that same utterly graceful movement he used to get into cars, the one that never failed to tug at Keith's heart- cause it was Lance, and he was Keith's best friend.

Despite their difference in height, he fit into Keith's arms perfectly. His larger frame folding over Keith's smaller one. It was nothing like fate, but they had built this between themselves- the arguments, the 2AM phone calls, the late night beer runs, Keith's bare feet tucked into the nook of Lance's ankles on a cold day, Lance, grinning and saying _"Keith, you're crazy, but you're my kind of crazy."_

One after another, a merging array of memory and emotion, overlapping in the deepest part of his heart. Where Lance belonged.

"I'm okay" Keith mumbled, into Lance's chest.

"I know" Lance replied, into Keith's messy mullet.

"I love you." Lance confessed, "I know this is horrible timing, and I'm being unfair. But I can't bring myself to care, I have to say it now. I just-" he cut himself off, pulling Keith tighter into his arms, like he was worried Keith was going to disappear.

"About time, dumbass" Keith smirked, "I thought I would have to say it before you did."

"Wha-" Lance startled.

"Well, Pidge bet Hunk that I would have to say it first, cause you like to avoid things."

"I do not avoid things!"

"Remember the cactus?" Keith asked.

"You can't throw that back in my face!" Lance grumbled.

"I love you too"

"I'm never going to win any arguments anymore, am I?" Lance asked.

"Did you win any before?" Keith raised a brow.

"I love you"

"I know"

"A lot"

_"I know."_

 

 

 


End file.
